Barrier for the bounding of roads, bridges, etc.



W. NILL Oct. 15, 1968 BARRIER FOR THE BOUNDING OF ROADS, BRIDGES, ETC.

Filed Sept. 7, 1966 United States Patent 3,405,914 BARRIER FOR THE BOUNDING 0F ROADS, BRIDGES, ETC. Walter Nill, Winterthur, Switzerland, assignor to Kuderli & Co., Zurich, Switzerland Filed Sept. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 577,657 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Sept. 3, 1965, 12,496/ 65 4 Claims. (Cl. 256-59) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A road barrier or the like in which horizontal upper and lower girders of connected barrier elements are each connected to vertical uprights with longitudinal clearance.

The present invention relates to a barrier for the bounding of roads, bridges or the like, which comprises an upper and a lower girder mounted on uprights.

In the known barriers of this kind, the girders are usually connected with one another by vertical rods and welded to the uprights or otherwise connected with them rigidly so that the connection between the girders and uprights is extremely unyielding. The barrier then consists of individual elements which are not interconnected at their adjacent ends but which are spaced to form expansion gaps. The lower girder, which is weakly connected with the rods, is not taken into account when calculating the strength of the barrier, which is usually resistant to a load of 120 kilograms per meter. Upon the impact of a vehicle with such a barrier, the latter is stressed only over a section corresponding substantially to the length of the vehicle. Then the upright positioned nearest to the point of impact is deformed and even torn out of its anchorage; the girders are bent or snap between two uprights, each element of the barrier being rigidly connected with at least two uprights. The stressed barrier element has no effective hold on the adjacent elements. In order to overcome this latter disadvantage, steel cables have been used, which connect several barrier elements with one another and are fixedly anchored at the ends of the barrier, e.g., the railing of a bridge. This construction is rather involved and expensive.

The present invention has as its primary object to provide a barrier which prevents breakthrough of vehicles in a simple and very eifective manner.

With this and other objects in view, which will become apparent later in this specification with reference to the accompanying drawings I provide a barrier comprising in combination: girders of a tensile strength unweakened over the entire length of the barrier and uprights connected with said girders at a strength substantially below said tensile strength.

More specifically, the barrier comprises a plurality of connected barrier elements, each including upper and lower interconnected girders. Uprights constituted as hollow elements receive depending pins on the upper girders with clearance. This clearance at least extends in a direction lengthwise of the upper girders. The lower girders are coupled with the uprights by suitable means which provides clearance enabling the lower girders to be movable with respect to the uprights within limits in a direc tion lengthwise of the lower girders.

The lower girders are coupled with the uprights by means of spaced pairs of pins which are longitudinally arranged on the lower girders and which engage brackets connected to the uprights with lateral clearance.

These and other features of the present invention will be clearly understood from the following description of 3,405,914 Patented Oct. 15, 1968 an embodiment thereof given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view, partly broken away, of a barrier element, with an upright,

FIG. 2 is a section on the line II--II of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, similar to that of FIG. 2, but of a further embodiment.

The barrier illustrated has an upper girder 1 consisting of a steel rail of rectangular profile lying fiat, and a lower girder 2 consisting of an elongated steel rail of rectangular profile. The two girders 1 and 2 are connected with one another by vertical steel rods 3, referred to as filler rods. The barrier as a whole consists of elements each of about 6 meters length and FIG. 1 shows the middle portion of such a barrier element. At the butt joints of the individual barrier elements, the end faces of adjacent girders 1 and 2 are welded, riveted or screwed together with the use of plates or they are rigidly interconnected in any other way so that the tensile strength of both girders remains unweakened at the joints. The filler rods 3 are welded at their ends to the girders 1 and 2 in such a manner that the welded joints likewise do not constitute a weakening of the strength of the cross sectional profile of a filler rod 3.

In addition to the barrier elements 1 to 3, the barrier comprises also uprights 4 arranged in the middle of each barrier element in order to keep the same in a vertical position. These uprights each consist, for example, of a steel tube of square profile, whose lower end is clamped in the base 5 of the road or bridge, and is cast in the usual manner (not shown) in concrete, cement or the like.

A depending pin 6, welded to the girder 1 at the middle of its underside, projects into the upper end of the tube 4. A large clearance is provided between the pin 6 and the tube 4. It is of particular importance to have a large clearance s, in the longitudinal direction of the barrier, While the play s in the direction transverse thereof may be made smaller, if desired.

The lower girder 2, which is laterally ofr'set relative to the upper girder 1, contacts the tube 4 and is attached thereto by an angularly turned-up bracked 7. The bracket 7 is welded to the tube 4 at 8, after the barrier elements 1 to 3 have been mounted on the tube 4, i.e. after the pin 6 has been inserted in the upper end thereof. On both sides of the holder bracket 7 there are welded to the girder 2 two pins 9 flanking said bracket and serving as abutments, a clearance s being provided between these pins and the holder bracket 7. Upon strong deformations of the barrier, one or the other of these pins 9 is bent or sheared off by the bracket 7.

It is clear that in the barrier described there exists only a comparatively loose connection between the girders 1 and 2 and the uprights 4, while on the other hand these girders 1 and 2 are kept unweakened over the entire length of the barrier. This has the consequence that in the case of an impact of a vehicle on the barrier, the connections of the girdes 1, 2 with the uprights 4 give way and the barrier is deformed over the length of several barrier elements. The upright 4 in the vicinity of the place of the impact itself is strongly deformed and may even be torn out of the base 5, but through the intermediary of the girders 1 and 2, the neighboring uprights 4 take part in retaining the girders.

The deformation energy of a girder may be represented by a rectangular triangle, whose one side represents the path of deformation, i.e. the path of the point of impact, and whose other side represents the tensile stress occurring in the girder upon impact. In comparison with known barriers, wherein a single element takes the impact, there results for an equal energy of deformation a substantial increase of the deformation path and hence a substantial reduction of the tensile stress, so that the barrier according to the invention oifers considerably higher safety against breakage for equal tensile strength of the girders 1 and 2 and equal force of impact.

The bracket 7 may alternatively be fixed to the upright 4 in a reversed position (FIG. 3), i.e. so that it points upward and the weld point 8 lies below the girder 2. In this case the bracket 7 may be fixed to the upright 4 even before assembly. When the girders 1 and 2 of the individual barrier elements are connected with each other at the butt joints by plates, one may allow, if desired, a longitudinal clearance limited by abutments between the barrier elements in consideration of temperature variations, provided these abutments are strong enough for transmitting the maximum permitted tensile force in the girders. In general this measure may, however, be dispensed with since the formation of slight lateral waves in the girders is permissible upon an increase in temperature.

While in the barrier illustrated the barrier elements 1 to 3 are connected to the upright 4 merely by connections offering a Wide clearance, the same result would be obtained in principle by providing welded or screwed connections whose strength is very weak as compared with the tensile strength of the girders 1 and 2. It is essential that the sum of the strength of the connections of at least three uprights with the girders amounts to a strength corresponding to the tensile strength of the girders.

By means of filler rods 3 capable of being fully loaded at their ends, the two girders 1 and 2 are connected with each other, as it were, to form a strong band, so that the tensile strength of the lower girder 2 is fully utilized.

The girders 1 and 2 may obviously be made of rails of different profile and/or material; however, the embodiment described is simple and convenient. The same applies to the pins 6 and 9 as well as to the brackets 7. Moreover, the filler rods 3 may be dispensed with, so that a barrier then consists only of the upright and the two girders mounted on it. It should also be noted that one may provide, if desired, the clearances s s between the pin 6 and the upright 4, and additionally provide a very Weak connection between pin 6 and upright 4, in order to prevent too strong vibrations of the girders 1 and 2. Other 4 modifications may occur to persons skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

1. A barrier comprising a plurality of connected barrier elements each including upper and lower interconnected girders, uprights supporting said barrier elements, each said upright being constituted as a hollow element, said upper girders each including a depending pin engageable with clearance in a corresponding upright at least in a direction lengthwise of the upper girders, and means coupling said lower girders with the uprights with clearance such that the lower girders are movable with respect to the uprights, within limits, in a direction lengthwise of the lower girders, the latter means comprising a pair of pins longitudinally spaced and a bracket associated with each upright and a corresponding lower girder and secured to a respective one thereof, said bracket being interposed with lateral clearance between the associated pair of pins.

2. A barrier as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pins are on said lower girders, and said brackets are connected to the uprights.

3. A barrier as claimed in claim 1 wherein said depending pins on the upper girders are engaged in said uprights from above with clearance in a direction transversely of the upper girders.

4. A barrier as claimed in claim 1 wherein said depending pins are arranged in the middle of each upper girder at the underside thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 194,724 8/ 1877 Reed et a1 256-24 1,711,898 5/1929 Meaker 256- 131 1,826,998 10/1931 Doddridge 25613.1 1,993,536 3/1935 Turner et a1. 256-22 2,773,674 12/ 1956 Fischer et al 25622 2,909,361 10/1959 Dotson 256-22 X 3,093,363 6/1963 Bohon 256-24 X 3,313,527 4/ 1967 Eriksson 25665 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Assistant Examiner. 

